


You belong with me

by smkkbert



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Highschool AU, taylor swift: You belong with me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-08 23:43:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7778269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smkkbert/pseuds/smkkbert
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity doesn’t like how her best friend Oliver changed since he started dating Laurel. Or are her own feelings just clouding her judgement? Highschool AU based on the song “You belong with me” by Taylor Swift</p>
            </blockquote>





	You belong with me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [walkerandbartowski](https://archiveofourown.org/users/walkerandbartowski/gifts).



“It’s actually a x-axis bi-numeric algorithm, and it’s really cool and powerful, probably the coolest thing I have ever done. Cooper says that with a few improvements it could actually be turned into a super-virus. I am not sure if I should take that as a compliment since it makes it sound quite evil. Though… In the wrong hands it could probably be used for something evil which would be terrible because I don’t want it to be evil, but if someone took it and made it evil it would still make me the evil person who created this and- Do you think I am exaggerating?”

When Felicity interrupted herself in the middle of her ramble to turn and look at her friend, she found him picking at his food and staring away. She followed his gaze to a different table in the canteen and felt her excitement about her success in the IT class fading away at the sight of Laurel Lance chatting with her cheerleader friends.

“Did you guys fight?” Felicity asked quietly, but still he didn’t seem to notice that she was talking to him. “Oliver?”

“Hm?” Oliver asked, quickly turning his head to Felicity. “I’m sorry. I was… distracted. So how was your day? Any progress with that virus you have been working on?”

Felicity bit down on her bottom lip, lowering her gaze to hide her disappointment.

Three months ago this wouldn’t have happened. Three months ago Oliver would have been able to tell if she was excited or frustrated because although he wouldn’t have understood one word of her tech babble, he would have listened to every word and known how she felt. Instead he was distracted while she was talking now because three months ago he had started dating Laurel Lance.

“I’m sorry, Felicity,” Oliver said with a sigh, putting his hand to her forearm. “I know I haven’t been the best friend lately. It’s just…”

Felicity bit her tongue. She didn’t really want to hear anything about Laurel and Oliver. It was bad enough that they were hanging out together most of the time now and Oliver was talking about her almost nonstop. Every once in a while she wished it could be like it had been between them before Oliver and Laurel had gotten together.

“I guess you got into a fight again?” Felicity asked with a sigh, looking up at Oliver.

He hesitated, obviously considering if maybe he shouldn’t tell her about his problems after he hadn’t listened to whatever she had told him before. Felicity perked up her eyebrows, smiling encouragingly. Oliver sighed.

“We were hanging out together yesterday, and I said something,” Oliver said with another sigh. “I don’t even remember what it was, but somehow we started fighting. She left and went home after that and now…”

He gestured to where Laurel sat without taking notice of them. Felicity couldn’t say if she was just not seeing them or if she even right out ignored them. Either way Laurel and Oliver weren’t shooting each other enamored eyes like they usually did when they didn’t have lunch together.

“Now it’s ice time,” Felicity finished the sentence for him, nodding. “Yeah, I see.”

“I am sorry I am talking about her and me again,” Oliver said with another sigh. “I know you must be beyond annoyed with me.”

Felicity shrugged her shoulders. “Well, I am your friend. Getting annoyed with you is part of the job description, I guess.”

Oliver chuckled. “Hey, be nice!”

“Other part of my job description should probably be giving you advice, right?”

“You don’t have to if-“

“You should go and talk to her,” Felicity interrupted him. “The sooner you fix this the better.”

Oliver nodded. “You’re probably right.”

“I always am.”

Again Oliver chuckled. “Yes, probably.”

They smiled at each other for a long moment, making Felicity feel all the little butterflies that always seemed to be just waiting for Oliver to smile at her or even just look at her in that one special way he only used when looking at her. Felicity couldn’t remember when she had started feeling these butterflies when being around him. Maybe they had been there since the very start when she had moved here two years ago. They definitely seemed to have gotten more active in the last six months, though.

Felicity was just about to ask him if he wanted to listen to the progress she had made with the algorithm when Oliver grabbed his tray and got up.

“Am I going to see you tomorrow after the game?” Oliver asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. I wanted-“

“Hey, you need to come there. You know we never win when you’re not around. You’re my lucky charm.”

Felicity smiled. “Fine. I’ll be there.”

“Great. And thanks for your ear and your advice,” he told her with another bright smile before he headed to where Laurel and her friends were sitting.

Gorgeous Laurel Lance, Felicity thought with an inaudible sigh. She was one of the most popular girls in school. She was smart and beautiful and to Felicity’s frustration so terribly nice that she couldn’t even really dislike her.

Laurel’s only failure seemed to be that she was in no way the right girl for Oliver. They fought over the stupidest things and never seemed to be able to agree on anything. Oliver had changed a lot since they were together, and it wasn’t exactly to the better.

Felicity pulled out her headphones and listened to music while watching how Oliver and Laurel talked. They both seemed to be apologizing while holding hands and then finally they kissed. Felicity looked away. Oliver was her best friend, and she just didn’t see him being really happy with Laurel.

Or was she just telling herself that, so she didn’t feel bad for actually wishing that they would break up, so things could just turn back to the way they had been when she and Oliver had both been single and gushing over him had been as hopeless as it was now but way less painful?

 

The moment the game was over and people started rejoicing over the team’s victory, Felicity hurried towards the exit. If she hurried, she could still catch the next bus and wouldn’t have to wait half an hour for the next one. It was late already, and Felicity was tired. She still had to learn for a test next week, and on top of that she had completely forgotten to bring a jacket and it was getting cold.

She had almost made it to the exit of the stadium when she heard a familiar voice behind her calling out her name. Biting down on her bottom lip, she turned around.

“Oliver,” she said, trying to sound surprised.

Oliver frowned, letting his helmet fall to the ground, and lifted his hands in a questioning gesture. “What? You wanted to leave without saying hi to me?”

Yes, Felicity thought. That had been exactly what she had planning on doing. It had probably been her number one reason for trying to catch the early bus.

“No,” she answered instead, smiling at him forcedly. “I am just… uhm… I still have things to do at home and… uhm… there is an early bus, so I thought I would just send you a message and congratulate you.”

“Well, now you’re here, and I expect a hug,” Oliver replied, spreading his arms.

Felicity hesitated. She tried to not to get too close to Oliver too often. It wasn’t easy because they had always been close and sometimes, like in a situation like this, she barely had a choice but to go with the hug. She had already taken a step forward when she was saved, though.

Laurel came running towards him and flung her arms around his neck. It made Oliver stumble two steps back in surprise and if it wasn’t for Oliver’s quick reflexes, they would have fallen to the floor. When Laurel pressed her lips to Oliver’s in a firm kiss, Felicity looked at the floor, trying to ignore the tightening feeling in her stomach.

“I am sorry,” she suddenly heard Laurel say. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you. I just wanted to congratulate Ollie. I will leave you alone, so you can continue talking and-“

“You don’t have to go,” Felicity said quickly, looking up to see Laurel having taken a step away from Oliver already. “I was leaving anyway, and-“

“Oh, aren’t you coming with us to Big Belly’s?” Laurel asked. “The whole team and all the cheerleaders and a few others are going. I thought you’d come with us.”

Felicity shook her head, pushing her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “I still have things to do at home, so… I really should go home.”

Laurel glanced at her watch. “I think you just missed the bus. Should we take you home before we go to Big Belly’s? It’s on the way anyway, and-“

“No, thanks,” Felicity replied with a forced smile. “I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”

“Hey, you are no inconvenience,” Oliver told her. “We really don’t mind to-

“Hey, Felicity!”

Felicity turned around, stopping herself from releasing a long breath of relief when Barry Allen was quickly coming over to them.

“Hi, Barry,” Felicity replied.

“Nice victory,” Barry said to Oliver with a nod of his head before turning back to Felicity. “Do you need a ride home?”

“Yes, that would be great,” Felicity answered, turning back around to Oliver and Laurel. “See? Everything’s fine. Have a nice evening.”

“Yeah, you too,” Oliver said, smiling at her almost a little bit disappointedly.

“You come with us the next time, okay?” Laurel asked.

Felicity bit down on her bottom lip. She nodded though she already worked out a dozen of possible excuses she could use the next time the two of them asked her to spend time with them.

She watched them leave hand in hand with Laurel’s head resting on Oliver’s shoulder. They looked terribly good together, so maybe she was wrong. Maybe Oliver and Laurel really belonged together, and her feelings were just clouding her vision. Maybe she had just-

“You know, the longer you stare after him, the more obvious it gets that you have a crush on him, right?”

“I don’t have a crush on him, Barry,” Felicity said quickly, maybe a little bit too quickly. “He’s just a friend.”

Barry cocked his head. “You know, you shouldn’t ever tell him that because if can see that you’re lying, I am sure he can do the same.”

“I am not-“ Felicity started, but decided that the more she would object, the more Barry would feel his suspicion being confirmed. So she just put on a smile and asked, “Are you taking me home now or what?”

 

 

“Laurel thinks you don’t like her.”

Felicity frowned in surprise at the way this statement seemed to have come out of the blue. They had spent the entire Saturday afternoon together, enjoying the sun outside and chatting about nothing in particular. They just had had fun like it had always been between the two of them. The last few minutes that they had lain in the grass and watched the clouds – as much of a cliché as that might be – they hadn’t said a word.

“What?” she asked.

Oliver rolled from his back onto his side and propped his head up onto his hand, just watching her for a long moment. Felicity felt like his gaze was crawling right under her skin, eliciting goosebumps on her arms and making a blush spread from her cheek down her neck to her cleavage.

“Well, you never go anywhere where she is and you leave when she comes,” Oliver said after awhile. “I actually wondered about the same, you know? You’re my friend, and I think I need to know if you don’t like my girlfriend.”

“Why?” Felicity asked, shooting him a short glance before she focused back on a cloud that was almost shaped like a shark. “Would that change anything?”

“Of course it would,” Oliver answered immediately. “Look, if you started something with Cooper, I would tell you to be careful because I think there is something off with him.”

“Is that your way of asking if there is anything going on between me and Cooper?”

“Maybe.”

“There isn’t.”

“You and Barry?”

“Nope.”

“Good.”

“Good?” Felicity asked. “Why is that good?”

“Because I don’t think either of them is the right one for you,” Oliver explained, pausing for a long moment. “Which brings me back to the subject. If you thought that you don’t like Laurel, I think that would change something for me because-“

“It shouldn’t, you know?” Felicity interrupted him, only now really locking eyes with him. “The way I think about her shouldn’t change the way you see her. She is your girlfriend and you love her, right?”

Oliver sighed, lying back down next to her. Their heads almost touched as they were both looking up into the sky. Again neither of them said a word. Felicity almost started wondering if Oliver wanted to drop the topic when-

“Love is such a big word,” he whispered. “Don’t you think?”

“So you don’t love her, but you’re in love with her, right?”

Again Oliver sighed, and it took another while until he replied, “I am captain of the football team and she is head of the cheerleaders. It works, right?”

“I think ‘it works’ is not exactly how I would describe the two of you together,” Felicity explained slowly. “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to destroy this for you. I just-“

“I know,” Oliver interrupted, linking his fingers with hers on the grass. His thumb stroked over the back of her hand gently. “Laurel and I fight a lot, right?”

“Right.”

“It’s just…”

Oliver let out a long sigh, not finishing his sentence for awhile. Felicity wondered if he knew that he was still holding her hand. She didn’t ask him, though.

“I told Laurel about the problems I have with my parents.”

“Does your dad still want you to leave the team and concentrate on school more?”

“Yes.”

“That sucks. You really got a talent with that.”

“Well, he wants me to graduate school with the best notes possible, so I can go to a great college and lead his company one day.”

“But that’s not what you want, and he doesn’t understand that,” Felicity says. “I am sorry, Oliver.”

“Laurel doesn’t understand it either,” Oliver added after a short pause. “She thinks my father only wants what’s best for me. She thinks I am being too hard on him, and I should just try sitting down with him and explain to him how I feel.”

Felicity pressed her lips together, trying not to burst out into laughter at that. If she pictured Oliver sitting down and talking about his feelings, it could only make her laugh. Oliver wasn’t exactly the most talkative guy she knew, and he certainly wasn’t talkative when it came to his feelings.

Besides, talking to his father wouldn’t get them anywhere. Robert probably only wanted Oliver’s best, but he didn’t exactly know what was best for his son. And Robert was as stubborn as Oliver.

“I think it’s because she has such a good relationship to her parents,” Oliver explained. “I think that is why she can’t understand.”

Felicity nodded. Children with happily-married, supporting parents never seemed to get the relationships between children of parents who weren’t like that. She had experienced the same with her friends who hadn’t understood why she didn’t get along with her mom who had always tried to give her best, but was just so different from her.

“You know when I feel the most understood and the most accepted?” Oliver asked.

He turned back on his side to look at her again. He lifted their linked fingers to his chest, pressing the back of her hand to the spot right over his heart. His gaze almost burn under her skin, waking up the butterflies in the pit of her stomach.

“When I am with you,” Oliver revealed. “That is when I feel the happiest.”

Felicity felt her heart beating up into her throat. She tried to take deep, even breaths to hide how much his words meant to her, but she felt her breath getting caught in her throat.

He felt the happiest with her. He felt the most understood and accepted with her. It was exactly who she felt when being with him. So why couldn’t he reciprocate her feelings? Why did he see a friend in her and not more, while she had fallen head over heels in love with him?

“What about Laurel?”

Oliver looked at her for a long moment without saying a word before he lay back down. He rested his head against hers, still holding her hand to his heart.

“Oliver and Laurel, the captain of the football team and the head of the cheerleader… I guess it’s just meant to be, right?”

Felicity tried to breath against the tears, nodding slowly.

She had always felt like the captain of the football team dating the nerdiest straight A-student in school was something that could never go right. It was kind of a miracle that they had made it so far to become friends already. He would never see more than a friend in her because, well, she was only the weird, nerdy blonde, while Laurel was… Well, Laurel was the head of the cheerleaders.

_Oliver and Laurel, the captain of the football team and the head of the cheerleader… I guess it’s just meant to be, right?_

 

Felicity watched Oliver closely. He had put one arm around Laurel’s lips, casually brushing his lips against her temple from time to time, while he was talking to some friends of his team. He had put on that fake smile she had seen him wearing too often those last weeks.

Just like Felicity had the weird feeling that this entire birthday party didn’t fit to him, she also felt like he didn’t really look like himself anymore. He hadn’t really looked like himself for awhile to be honest.

Oliver had been this honest, light person. He had never tried to pretend to be someone he wasn’t, not matter how much his parents or other people had tried to turn him into that. That was what Felicity felt he was doing now, though. He was trying to be someone he wasn’t. Or maybe he had turned into this person she felt she didn’t recognize anymore.

Either way she couldn’t take it anymore.

Putting away her glass of diet coke, she turned around and headed to the door. She had watched Oliver being this person she didn’t recognize way too long. The only time she still really recognized him was when it was only them and there was nobody else around. That was when he was the Oliver she had become friends with and had fallen head over heels in love with.

She had already reached the driveway when she heard Oliver calling out her name behind her. Felicity stood still, not turning around though.

“Hey, are you leaving already?” he asked, stepping in front of her. “It’s still early and-“

“I can’t do this anymore, Oliver,” Felicity stated, surprised by the firmness of her own voice. “I can’t do this anymore, and I don’t want to do this anymore. So, yes, I am leaving.”

“You can’t do _what_ anymore?” Oliver asked with a frown. “Partying? Felicity, we both know you will pass all the tests with best grades and-“

“No,” Felicity replied in a whisper, shaking her head. She felt tears springing to her eyes. “I can’t be friends with you anymore.”

“Felicity,” Oliver almost breathed, taking a step towards her, but Felicity took a step back.

“No,” she said.”We… we can’t be friends anymore.”

“Why?” Oliver asked urgently. “I know I haven’t been the best friend lately. I didn’t listen when you told me things and-“

“It’s not that,” Felicity interrupted him immediately, shaking her head. “I just… I can’t watch you being this person anymore.”

“This… what?” Oliver asked, not understanding.

Felicity took in a deep breath, slowly approaching him until she stood right in front of him. She took his hand, holding it in hers. Oliver looked down at their linked fingers for a long moment before he lifted his gaze back to her eyes. When he saw a tear roll down her cheek, he put his hand to her face and wiped the tear away with his thumb. His hand still stayed at the side of her face.

“What’s going on, Felicity?” he asked gently.

“I don’t recognize you anymore,” Felicity whispered. “You were my best friend, and now I feel I barely know you. You became someone else, and-“

“I didn’t,” Oliver interrupted her. “I am still your Oliver.”

Felicity let out a breathy laugh, shaking her head. She put her free hand to his on her face and leaned into his touch, closing her eyes with a sigh. She wanted to memorize this moment to get her through the long nights without sleep she knew would follow.

“You are not my Oliver,” she finally whispered, opening her eyes to look in his deep blue ones. “You never have been.”

“Felicity, what-?”

Felicity didn’t let him continue. She straightened up onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips to Oliver’s in a firm yet gentle kiss. Her heart was beating wildly because she knew there was no going back from this moment. She could have taken all the words back and said they had been the result of a crappy day, but the kiss… She wouldn’t be able to take that back, and she didn’t want to.

When their lips parted, she rested her forehead against Oliver’s for a moment longer, taking in a deep breath. She felt his breath grazing over her face and again tried to memorize the feeling.

“Happy birthday, Oliver,” she whispered when she pulled back completely. She looked into his speechless face for a moment. “Goodbye.”

And without giving Oliver another chance to say anything, Felicity ran off, leaving Oliver behind. She would lie if she said that she didn’t feel the slightest of relief beneath the sadness.

 

When Felicity woke up, she didn’t know what had woken her. She took a quick look around, figuring that she probably had just dreamt of Oliver and the kind of ugly scene she had made on his birthday one week ago. Groaning, Felicity pulled her pillow over her head and closed her eyes.

She hadn’t seen him all week, but that was probably because she had been distracted by school stuff anyway. And in the little times her head had been free of that, she had just kept her head lowered, so she didn’t have to see him.

Felicity wasn’t sure if she regretted what she had done because those things just needed to be said or otherwise they would have eaten Felicity alive sooner or later. She had lost her best friend, though, or the little that had been left of him after the last months, and that was something she regretted. She would now forever be the crazy best friend that had made him a scene and kissed him during his birthday party and-

When Felicity heard a quiet noise, she pulled the pillow away from her head and turned onto her side. It took another low noise before she realized it was coming from the window. Frowning, she got out of bed and tiptoed to the window. She felt her heart skip a beat when she saw Oliver standing in her garden, little stones in his left hand.

Hesitatingly Felicity opened the window, shouting in a whisper she hoped wouldn’t wake her mom, “Oliver, what are you doing?”

“I need to talk to you,” he answered. “Come downstairs.”

“It’s the middle of the night.”

“Felicity, please!”

Felicity bit down on her bottom lip, but she nodded. “Wait there. I will be down in a minute.”

She closed the window, quickly grabbed a jacket to slip on over her pajama and hurried downstairs. It was cold outside, so she wrapped her arms around herself tightly while she was approaching Oliver, who still stood right under her window with some stones in his hand. She stopped several feet away, looking at him for a long moment. He looked tired and exhausted though he was smiling an honest smile she hadn’t seen much on him lately.

 “So…” Felicity said after awhile. “What’s so important that it couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”

Oliver let the little stones fall to the ground and wiped the earth that they left on his palm away on his jeans. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants, slightly ducking his head between his shoulders. Oliver Queen looking like a shy schoolboy, Felicity thought. There really was a first time for everything.

“I never read the signs,” Oliver suddenly said, making Felicity frown, “or maybe I did read them, but I didn’t read them right. Anyway, it was like I said a few weeks ago. I feel the happiest and the most understood and accepted when I am with you. I… I thought it was because we were such good friends and we just had this connection of trust and… and… and something else I didn’t really understand then.”

Felicity tightened her arms around her waist once more. She felt uncomfortable, and it wasn’t only because of the tensed posture of her body.

“But then you kissed me-“

“Oliver, about that-“

“-and then it became so clear,” Oliver just went on. Felicity was almost relieved he did because she had no idea what she should have said otherwise. “I have feelings for you other feelings than the friendly, almost brotherly ones I thought connected us.”

Felicity frowned. She tried to suppress the feeling of hope that threatened to spread in her heart. She couldn’t allow herself to fall for false hope. If that got crushed, it would be only more painful. She didn’t know when she had turned into this lovesick teenager, but obviously she was one.

“What do you mean?” Felicity asked.

Oliver took a step toward her. His chest was only a breath away from hers. If they breathed in at the same time, they would touch.

“I broke up with Laurel.”

“What?”

“After my birthday party I asked her to stay for a moment longer, and I told her that I am sorry, but I think that we don’t work together as a couple,” he explained. “And I told her that I have feelings for someone else, and I was just too blind to see it before.“

“What did she say?”

Oliver chuckled almost a little sadly, shaking his head. “Laurel said that she felt like she knew all along. She and I have never been as close as the two of us are, and… She said she understood.”

Felicity nodded slowly. “I am sorry if it’s my fault that-“

“There’s nothing you have to feel sorry about,” Oliver interrupted her. “I… uhm… After she left, I wanted to come here and talk to you, but I figured that… Well, it’s not exactly the best idea to get from one relationship into the other, so I thought and tried to figure out how long I could wait before asking you out on a date. I decided I couldn’t take more than a week and wanted to come here tomorrow, but then I lay awake tonight, and all I could think about was talking to you and the week was over ten minutes ago, so…”

Felicity was holding her breath. She wouldn’t believe it before Oliver had said it. As obvious as his words seemed to be already, she needed him to actually say it. He needed to say the words. When Felicity bit down on her bottom lip, Oliver reached out his hand and gently freed her lip from the maltreatment of her teeth. He kept his fingers on the side of her face, his eyes following the paths his fingertips took on her skin for a long moment.

“Felicity, would you like to go out to dinner with me?” he asked.

A smile that probably occupied her entire face spread on Felicity’s lips. Oliver had really said it. After all the hopeless days and nights here he was standing in her garden and asking her out for a date.

She was just about to answer that she would love to go out to dinner with him when-

“No, wait!”

Felicity’s heart sunk. “I understand if you change your mind and-“

“Yes. Wait, no! I-“

Oliver let out a deep groan before he stepped a little closer to Felicity and wrapped an arm around her waist. He put a hand to her lower back, gently holding her in place against him.

“I don’t think going out to dinner is actually what we should do because that is not who we are,” Oliver explained. “Would you like to spend a day with me like we usually do, just talking and having fun, but unlike we usually do we do that as a date?”

Felicity smiled, a blush spreading over her face. She bit down on her bottom lip, nodding.

“Is that a yes?” Oliver asked, his smile matching hers.

“Yes.”

“Great.” Oliver’s hand moved on her lower back for a short moment, warming Felicity’s skin. “I let you go back to sleep now, okay?”

“Okay.”

Oliver didn’t move, though. His hand stayed where he had put it on her lower back to keep her against him. Felicity watched him licking his lips, and when she lifted her gaze back to his eyes, she noticed that his eyes were focused on her lips.

“I know we hadn’t had our first date yet, but… am I allowed to kiss you goodnight?” he asked. “I mean… you kissed me, so it would only be fair if I got to kiss you, so we’re even.”

“That’s really logical.”

“Yeah, I figured I had more chance with logic than with romance.”

Felicity chuckled. “You might be right.”

Oliver’s eyes kept lingering on her face for a moment before he asked, “So am I allowed?”

“Yes.”

Slowly Oliver moved both of his hands to her cheeks, gently framing her face. He leaned down, lowering his lips towards her. He kept a breath away, though, so they were rather breathing the same air than actually kissing.

Felicity felt a tingling in her stomach and a prickling on her skin. She had read about the greatness of the anticipation before a kiss, but she had never experienced it until now. And God, it was better than any book could have described.

The only thing that was even better than the anticipation was the moment Oliver finally crossed the distanced and brushed his lips against hers in a gentle kiss.


End file.
